was initially farmed in 1895 in Prince Edward Island in an attempt to boost the number of silver fox (melanistic fox) pelts which were the most coveted at the time. As well as silver and red foxes, farms were also able to breed other natural morphs such as cross (partially melanistic) and albino fox pelts. As time progressed farmers started to produce foxes of various colors such as marble (white with a different colored stripe down the back), platinum (light silver with white face and neck marking), and amber (a light brown). Farmed red foxes express a wide variety of colors, longer fur, thicker neck ruffs, and are significantly larger than wild foxes. Arctic fox (blue fox) The fur of the arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) is currently the most popular of all the farmed fox species, particularly the blue fox (white with grey tips) and the shadow blue fox (all white). The overwhelming popularity of this fox has to do with the size of the production of arctic fox pelts and the dyeable nature of the color lead it to being a very accessible fur for designers and furriers to work with. Fur farming of blue foxes started as early as the 18th century with Russian fur traders transplanting blue foxes onto islands which previously had no foxes. These transplanted foxes would be caught during pelting season, with the best foxes released back onto the island to breed and the others harvested for their pelts. This rudimentary fur farming became increasingly popular and eventually led to the incredibly large number blue fox pelts seen today. Some unethical fur farmers breed their blue foxes to be too large, overfeeding or inbreeding them into unhealthy sizes to make the pelts larger. Although WelFur program is implementing procedures to stop this practice in the European Union, this practice has yet to be regulated in the United States and China. Hybrid Fox Hybrid foxes, made by artificially inseminating a female arctic fox with the zygotes of a male red fox, are larger than either of their parent species and are born infertile. It's unknown if these foxes suffer from any negative health side-affects as they're not kept longer than pelting season. Golden Island Foxes are the offspring of a female white artic fox and a common male red fox, they are the most popular type of hybrid fox. Other popular types of hybrid fox,